a. Technical Field
The instant disclosure relates to embedded systems, including operating systems and dynamic libraries for real-time embedded systems.
b. Background Art
Embedded systems are generally designed and implemented to fulfill a specific purpose. Accordingly, the hardware, software, and logic components of embedded systems may be generally simple and may be configured to perform a single intended function (or set of functions) with a minimum amount of processing power and memory to occupy a minimum amount of space and minimize the cost of the embedded system. Known embedded systems, to the extent they include software at all, thus generally implement static programming. Known embedded systems generally lack an operating system.
Embedded systems may be required to process data substantially in real-time. For example, global positioning system (GPS) systems may be included in a wide-ranging number of systems, including cell phones, navigation systems, and the like. Because the data from GPS systems may be used in conjunction with a rapidly-moving vehicle, for example, location data may need to be output by the GPS system in real-time to be useful. Numerous other embedded systems must operate substantially in real-time for usefulness (e.g., GPS), safety (e.g., aircraft systems), and other reasons.